American Idol: Initials are Not Nicknames!

Welcome to Whitney Houston Tribute Night, where the Producers throw us for a loop! Tonight the Ladies sing Whitney Houston songs, and the Dudes sing Stevie Wonder songs. Yes, after a decade of our Judges telling contestants that it is a Bad Idea (TM) to take on Whitney Houston, they’re doing a whole night of her music. I get that it’s a tribute, but come on.

Whitney Houston, one of the greatest voices ever. So why are we ruining them on Idol?! (Photo credit: asterix611)

Not only that, but Evil Nigel Lythgoe has another trick up his sleeve. Tomorrow, the bottom dude and the bottom lady will be announced, and then the judges will choose who stays and who goes. Which is probably good for at least one contestant, because this theme is not entirely fair to certain contestants (*COUGHELISECOUGH*). And Mary J. Blige is hanging out with our contestants. Can we have her as a judge? She’s critical but helpful, unlike Randy Jackson who said “some notes were flat and others were sharp and I’m trying to give constructive criticism.”

Joshua is up first, singing “I Wish.” He’s got an entire brass section on stage. He’s very confident, and I really like the rocker-esque tone to his voice. He didn’t over-sell it, which is incredibly important with his range.

Jimmy and Mary J love Elise, but they didn’t like her song choice, so they changed it for her. She’s doing “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” but neither in rehearsal nor on the stage did she look comfortable with the song. She’s the reason I didn’t think this was a fair theme for tonight — there’s a huge gap between her style and Whitney’s. I hope it doesn’t doom her, because she’s one of my favourites.

Jermaine sings “Knocks Me off My Feet,” and someone dressed him very, very badly. I couldn’t hear him sing over his outfit. According to my co-watcher, he was pretty good.

After the cut, the best and worst performances of the night!

Erika chose “I Believe in You and Me,” and is instantly inundated with Swaybots. I’m really glad they saved her, because she owned it. Ryan tried to come up with a nickname for her, and decided on EVP. That’s not a name, that’s an initial.

Colton did “Lately,” and I can’t figure out how this wasn’t in his wheelhouse. He did really well with it, turning it into a Colton song. Randy then tried to play a judge and critique Colton, but kinda failed.

Shannon did “I Have Nothing,” which according to Michael Sleazak is one of the Idol songs everyone sucks at. She didn’t fare any better, but at least it will help Elise. And if I can hear bad notes, you know it’s bad. Shannon hit one of them. And then she’s begging for the audience to keep her on another week, but darling you gotta show, and not tell us you can show us. Props though to her for not throwing the band under the bus like Ryan wanted her to do.

DeAndre performed “Master Blaster,” and tied his hair back. He’s got more confidence, and I wonder if he just couldn’t see before. I like his voice a lot. I didn’t know the song (Sadly, I don’t know many Stevie Wonder songs), so I had a hard time discerning lyrics.

Sklyar sang “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and I got goosebumps from the snippet she did in rehearsal with Mary J and Jimmy. I love her performance — she really took the suggestions to heart. Doing the softer bit first, then hitting the big notes at the end made me a fan. Damn, girl!

Heejun did “All in Love is Fair,” which Pia Toscano covered last season. He starts off really soft, and I’m pleased to see he goes for big notes. He is another who needs to do a non-ballad.

Hollie chose “All the Man that I Need,” which leads to another powerhouse performance from her. Girl is the poster child for getting sent home and coming back the next year and OWNING it. So keep that in mind, 15 year olds who think they’re great this year.

Jeremy chose the Ruben Studdard “Ribbon In the Sky,” but I think he needs to do non-ballads to avoid being forgotten. He gets clapping swaybots. He did all the big notes he was lacking last week. I really like Jer-Bear, and all three wild cards did amazing tonight.

Jessica is the one who decided that “I Will Always Love You” was a good choice. To be fair, if anyone could do it, it was probably her. She starts out a capella, and I found it amazing. Holy crap, how is she sixteen again? Damn, Jessica girl got it.

Philip finishes the show with “Superstition,” and he rocks out on it. He looked nervous (having to come after Jessica will do that) but he is incredibly confident with his guitar. He should never be with out it. He did a really good job with this song.

So here’s my tally:
Best of the night: Jessica, Joshua, Philip
Worst of the night: Shannon
Theme Night Victim: Elise

Bottom 2: Jermaine and Shannon (if there’s any justice!), and going home will probably be Shannon, but our judges seem to like her for some inexplicable reason. What do you all think?

One Response

It will come down to personalities (Who do we like?). That’s the deciding factor. After watching for weeks, we’ll get to know these women well. We’ll also have an indication of what producers want. Hopefully, not another country bumpkin. Enough with the country.

Another possibility: A Rocker Wins Idol 2012! We’ve waited for so long….could this be the year?

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